Shim Sham
Shim Sham
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The Lindy Line Dance -- scroll to the bottom to Exit this Page
The Shim Sham
The Shim Sham
In Phoenix (here) but you can do it anywhere that Lindy Hoppers congregate

SHIM SHAM

HISTORICAL NOTE

We wrote this in 1997 when it was impossible to put video on the internet. All the things on this page will still work and they do reflect the way that we did Shim Sham in DC in the late 1990s. Since then, many things have changed and there are at least five separate versions of the Shim Sham around. Read on if you want, but take this in its historic context. There are lots of other websites that teach other shim sham variants, many of them with video. However, the point of Shim Sham is getting together, any way you do it is just fine with us.

Shim Sham is the Lindy Line Dance. Here is the legend that surrounds it:

LEGEND: The Original Lindy Hoppers at the Savoy Ballroom had a considerable background in Tap and jazz dance. They used to warm up for dancing by doing traditional jazz and tap steps. Eventually, their warmup became standardized and a group of them could be found on the floor warming up as the band was tuning up.

The rhythm of the feet was very distinctive and stuck in the mind of arranger Edgar Sampson, who was a close associate of drummer-bandleader Chick Webb. Sampson wrote a song called "Stompin' at the Savoy" based on the distinctive rhythm of the dancer's feet. The warmup exercise became the Shim Sham dance (named after its first step) and the song became a tradition. Sampson sold the song to Benny Goodman for $100 during a period of particularly lean times in the Depression.

That is the Legend. It makes a great story, although it is disputed by many, most recently by Frankie Manning. Take a look at this segment from his recent interview on the Washington Post website:

  • Question: Were the Shim Sham or other line dances done at the Savoy?
  • Frankie Manning: Yes, but not like we do them now. The Shim Sham actually originated in a night club. We would take it to the Savoy, and we would just start doing it. It wasn't organized or anything.

It is undisputed that the Lindy revival of the late 1980s also brought back Shim Sham. People all over the world think that a Lindy event is not complete without a Shim Sham.

Click here to read more about the history of the Shim Sham

About the Photo: Mario Robau and Sylvia Sykes lead the Shim Sham. Photo courtesy of Maxie Dorf

Here is a video of Frankie Manning and Erin Stevens demonstrating the Shim Sham.






Shim Sham Road Map

Here is the road map to the Shim Sham (the steps are done in this order). Click on the name of the Step to see a breakdown and to learn more about its history. Except where noted, each step takes one bar (8 Counts).

All of the concepts and Steps are explained below, so you can just keep scrolling






Jazz Steps

All of the steps in the Shim Sham are Jazz steps and they begin on the count of "8" The leader kicks off the dance at the right point in "Stompin at the Savoy" and everything else follows. These movements are NOT Mirror Symmetric and you do not need a partner. Everyone does the same step.






Shim Sham Step (3 Bars)

The first bar starts with the Right Foot

  • On "8" Tap forward on right
  • 1: Tap back with Right (Weight on Left)
  • 2: Tap Left forward (Weight on Right)
  • 3: Tap Left Back (Weight on Right)
  • 4: Tap Right foot forward (Weight on Left)
  • 5: Tap Right foot back (Weight on Left)
  • 6: Tap Right forward (Weight on Left)
  • 7: Tap Right Back (Weight on Both)

The Next Bar Reverses this

  • 8: Tap forward on Left 1: Tap back with Left (Weight on Right) 2: Tap Right forward (Weight on Left) 3: Tap Right Back (Weight on Both) 4: Tap Left foot forward (Weight on Right) 5: Tap Left foot back (Weight on Right) 6: Tap Left forward (Weight on Right) 7: Tap Left Back (Weight on Both)

The next bar is the same as the First:

  • On "8" Tap forward on right
  • 1: Tap back with Right (Weight on Left)
  • 2: Tap Left forward (Weight on Right)
  • 3: Tap Left Back (Weight on Right)
  • 4: Tap Right foot forward (Weight on Left)
  • 5: Tap Right foot back (Weight on Left)
  • 6: Tap Right forward (Weight on Left)
  • 7: Tap Right Back (Weight on Both)






Full Break

This step gets used a lot in the dance, and is sort of the "Punctuation Mark" for Shim Sham. This part is very much like the Tap Break. Later versions of the Shim Sham use the TOBA Break.

  • 8: Plant Right foot (stomp it down)
  • 1: Hold Beat
  • 2: Tap left foot (Weight on Right)
  • 3: Tap left foot (weight on Right)
  • 4: Skip Hop Backwards on Left
  • 5: Skip Hop Backwards on Right
  • 6: Jump Straddle (feet spread apart)
  • 7: Jump together (feet together)






Side Push Suite

For this, it helps if you say a little Mantra to yourself. The "Mantra" will help you get the timing right. There are four bars in the Suite.

Bar 1 - Push Right
Mantra: "You Push and You Push and You Cross Over"

  • 8: Right foot out, Push right
  • 1. Pull Back
  • 2. Right foot out, Push right
  • 3. Pull Back
  • 4. Left foot crosses over in front of right
  • 5. Left foot planted in front of right
  • 6. Right moves beside left
  • 7. Hold beat

Bar 2 - Push Left (the reverse)
Mantra: "You Push and You Push and You Cross Over"

  • 8: left foot out, Push left
  • 1. Pull Back
  • 2. left foot out, Push left
  • 3. Pull Back
  • 4. Right foot crosses over in front of Left
  • 5. Right foot planted in front of left
  • 6. Left moves beside Right
  • 7. Hold beat

Bars 3 and 4 - Push Right plus two extra crossovers
Mantra "You Push and You Push and You Cross Over
and you Cross Over and You Cross Over"

  • 8: Right foot out, Push right
  • 1. Pull Back
  • 2. Right foot out, Push right
  • 3. Pull Back
  • 4. Left foot crosses over in front of right
  • 5. Left foot planted in front of right
  • 6. Right moves beside left
  • 7. Hold beat
  • 8. Right foot crosses over in front of Left
  • 1. Right foot planted in front of left
  • 2. Left moves beside Right
  • 3. Hold beat
  • 4. Left foot crosses over in front of right
  • 5. Left foot planted in front of right
  • 6. Right moves beside left
  • 7. Hold for half a beat






Tacky Annie

We have never heard a full explanation of how this movement got its name, although we presume that it memorializes an otherwise-forgotten dancer named "Tacky Annie." Although Jazz steps usually start on beat 8, this movemet attains drama by starting on an upbeat, something like 7 1/2, since we hold the last beat of the Side Push Suite for only half a beat. The best way to get this is to say "And Eight".

  • Beat "& 8": Jump Straddle -- feet about 30 inches apart
  • Beat 1: Right foot brought behind the body to just behind the Left foot
  • Beat 2: Right foot brought back to starting place
  • Beat 3: Left foot brought behind the body to just behind the Right foot
  • Beat 4: Left foot brought back to starting place
  • Beat 5: Right foot brought behind the body to just behind the Left foot
  • Beat 6: Right foot brought back to starting place
  • Beat 7: Left foot brought behind the body to just behind the Right foot. BUT, Beat 7 is just a little tricky, so see below
There are THREE Tacky Annies in Shim Sham. Remember that THREE (3) Tackie Annies. (This is the place that most people get fouled up) Beat 7 is the funny part:

  • On the first two, you just toch the left foot behind the right and go from there into the "& 8" jump straddle.
  • On the Third, you want to stop doing the step, so you DO NOT touch the left behind. Just hold the beat with feet spread. The reason is that a Full Break comes after the Tacky Annies.

The Tacky Annie is followed by a Full Break as outlined above






Half Breaks

This is a very familiar tap dance movement --- almost everyone has seen it. It is a little tricky, so we will present the Correct Way and then an Acceptable Substitute:

Half Breaks the Correct Way

  • Beat 8: "Jump" -- jump forward, landing the toe of the right foot about 8 inches in front of you
  • Beat 1: "Back" Shift weight back to left foot
  • Beat 2: "Shuffle - Ball" (Three steps in one beat)
    • Beat 2A: "Shuf-" Kick with heel of right foot
    • Beat 2B: "-fle" Tap with ball of right foot
    • Beat 2C: "Ball" - Shift weight back to the ball of the left foot
  • Beat 3: "Change" -- Shift weight to right foot
  • Beat 4: "Jump" -- jump forward, landing the toe of the right foot about 8 inches in front of you
  • Beat 5: "Back" Shift weight back to left foot
  • Beat 6: "Shuffle - Ball" (Three steps in one beat)
    • Beat 6A: "Shuf-" Kick with heel of right foot
    • Beat 6B: "-fle" Tap with ball of right foot
    • Beat 6C: "Ball" - Shift weight back to the ball of the left foot
  • Beat 7: "Change" -- Shift weight to right foot

Note that this has the same pattern repeated twice within the eight beats, and thus the name "half" breaks

A good mantra for the Half Breaks is:
"Jump, Back, Shuffle-Ball-Change"

The Half Breaks are followed by a Full Break. In the dance, this pattern is repeated twice (i.e. Half Breaks, Full Break,Half Breaks, Full Break)

Completely Acceptable Substitute

If you are not in the front row, this will work just fine:

  • Beat 8: Jump forward, landing the toe of the right foot about 8 inches in front of you
  • Beat 1: Shift weight back to left foot
  • Beat 2: Stamp heel of right foot
  • Beat 3: Jump back on both feet
  • Beat 4: Jump forward, landing the toe of the right foot about 8 inches in front of you
  • Beat 5: Shift weight back to left foot
  • Beat 6: Stamp heel of right foot
  • Beat 7: Jump back on both feet






Second Time Through

After you complete the Half Breaks, Full Break pattern, we go through the dance from the top, starting with the Shim Sham step. However, in this second pass, we DO NOT do the Full Breaks and replace them with an eight count hold. Yes, it's complicated --- just follow the leader






Clap Back

After we have gone through the dance twice, we switch over to a new pattern, which can be described as "Clap Backs" followed by a jazz step. The "Clap Backs" are fairly simple:

  • Beat 8: Clap
  • Beat 1: Jump Back (both feet)
  • Beat 2: Clap
  • Beat 3: Jump Back
  • Beat 4: Clap
  • Beat 5: Jump Back
  • Beat 6: Clap
  • Beat 7: Jump Back

Yes, it's just clap and jump back. Don't jump back more than six inches or you'll clobber someone and the people in the back row may hit the wall.






Boogie Up

This is fairly simple, provided that you can strut with attitude:

  • Beat 8: Strut on Right
  • Beat 1: Pivot on Right
  • Beat 2: Strut on Left
  • Beat 3: Pivot on Left
  • Beat 4: Strut on Right
  • Beat 5: Pivot on Right
  • Beat 6: Strut on Left
  • Beat 7: Pivot on left

Strut away -- the more outrageous the better. You can also replace the pivot with a movement that looks like you are writing the letter "C" in the sand.






Shorty George

This is a fairly complex movement in which you "Duck Waddle" for 8 beats. It is named for "Shorty George" Snowden, one of the Original Whitey's Lindy Hoppers who was quite diminutive. It was very humorous when the "giants" around him (including his VERY LARGE dance partner named Big Bea) would crouch very low and duck walk at his level.

  • Beat 8: Kick out to the right
  • Beat 1: Crouch, place knees together, right foot in the instep of the left, bend left
  • Beat 2: Remain crouched, move right foot a half step forward, place left foot in instep of right, bend right
  • Beat 3: Remain crouched, move left foot a half step forward, place right foot in instep of left, bend left
  • Beat 4: Remain crouched, move right foot a half step forward, place left foot in instep of right, bend right
  • Beat 5: Remain crouched, move left foot a half step forward, place right foot in instep of left, bend left
  • Beat 6: Remain crouched, move right foot a half step forward, place left foot in instep of right, bend right
  • Beat 7: Remain crouched, move left foot a half step forward, place right foot in instep of left, bend left






Everybody Dance

After the last "Shorty George", it is customary to grab the nearest Leader (or Follower, depending on your role) and dance. The leader periodically issues commands:

  • "Freeze": Everyone stops dead in their tracks
  • "Dance": Everyone resumes normal dancing at the top of the next bar
  • "Slow Motion": Dancers take two bars to do an 8- count move.
  • "Change Partners": Switch partners and keep dancing
  • The Leader may also suggest specific Lindy steps to be performed --- "Mirror Charleston", "Swingout", etc.

Enjoy the Shim Sham!

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